Two of A Kind
by Vercingetorix7
Summary: A bullied and neglected teenager from Arkansas flies through a mysterious portal to another land, one that's full of new surprises in store for him and his new friends. New challenges await him, and does he have what it takes to overcome them? Rated T for some mild language, but mostly for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III always said that he had been a, well, a _Hiccup_, until he found Toothless. He had always said that he felt useless, ignored, and not cared about before that fateful night. If that's true, then I was definitely a pretty big Hiccup.

But, I digress. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Brandon, an esteemed dragon rider of Berk, sworn to protect the innocent. The story that you are reading is how I went from being a complete and utter Hiccup to having the best job in the world, training dragons. I also got the best friends here, not like the ones back in Arkansas that would run at the first sign of trouble. Oh wait, I had _no _friends whatsoever_._ These guys here at Berk are real friends. So, you ready to adventure into my story? No? Too bad, we're going anyways!

I was having quite the bad day. By lunch, I had already been beaten twice by the jocks, and was already on my guard again as they began to circle me once more. 'Oh well,' I thought, 'it's not like it's anything different from home.'

I was mostly raised by my dad, since my parents had divorced when I was only 2, and my mother had decided that leaving me with my father was better than living with her. Oh God, was she wrong. My father had fallen into alcoholism just after he divorced, and was now almost always drunk, usually to the point that he couldn't stand up. He then naturally became abusive towards almost anyone, but usually me, blaming me for his divorce in his drunken rages. I usually went to sleep with my tanned face bleeding and bruised, as well as my sapphire blue eyes leaking tears.

Yes, I was usually crying. For the loss of anything that remained of our family.

But, right now, that didn't matter. I was too preoccupied with the circle of teenagers that was quickly taking shape all around me. A hulk of a boy, about 6'2 and brimming with over 200 pounds of sheer muscle stood a few inches from me. "What'cha doin', squirt?" I tried as hard as I could to not punch him. He was the football team's star linebacker, Evan, and also just happened to be one of the school's biggest jerks, picking on kids way smaller than him. He always liked to target me because of my particularly weak physical state.

I ignored his comment and and replied with a meek "Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Why do you care?" I shot back.

Evan leaned in close. "I don't care about _you_, runt." He sneered and spat in my face. That comment sounded out the thought that I had thought came from my parents' brains. 'He sounded just like the voices in my head, like... like he had been there all along! No! My family do care about me!' I raged inside of my head. In my heart, however, I knew that it was a lie. A complete and utter _lie._ My emotions finally exploded, all of the rage, anger, frustration, and hurt I had ever felt: at my family, at my friends, even at myself, for everything that had ever gone wrong in my life, my parent's divorce, my father, everything.

My tears would not go in vain tonight.

I responded to Evan by pulling a stunt no one else had ever done before: I clocked him in the jaw, then kneed him in the nutsack. Even with my terrible physical state, it still probably hurt him quite a bit. I immediately broke through the circle and ran for my life, with Evan soon sprinting after me, bloodlust in his eyes.

I hauled as fast as I could, but to Evan I was taking a leisurely stroll through the park. He began to gain on me quickly as I began to do anything I could to keep him at bay. I was shoving people, throwing books down to trip him, anything I could think of, but this only seemed to further intensify his rage.

I rounded a corner, and took off like a jet, trying to shake him. I looked behind me and saw nothing. For a second, I thought that I was safe. But, it's when you're least prepared that you make the most mistakes. Without even looking ahead of me, I continued to run down the hallway. I ran straight into someone with the force of a train. As we both fell to the floor groaning, I looked to see who it was, and felt my heart drop like a stone. It was the one person I didn't want to see. Principal Clark.

My eyes dilated to the size of dinner plates when I saw him, and I quickly tried to explain to him, stuttering terribly.

"H-He-Hello Mr. Cl-Clar-Clark..."

Principal Clark didnt say anything, he just grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and began dragging me to his office. I quickly began to panic, managing to say "It-It wasn't my fault..." before he basically threw me into his office.

"Mr. Clark, I didn't..."

"Quiet!" He bellowed. "For starting a fight with another student, you're being suspended for a week!"

"What?" I said in confusion. "He was bullying me, and you're telling me it's my fault?!"

"Yes, Evan's friends told me what happened, and I must say, I'm very disappointed with you. Now get out of school. You're suspended for a week."

_"What! _You think that it's _my _fault! That's crap!" I yelled in protest.

"Enough! Can't you see that all you do here is mess up the system! This is your third suspension this year, and its February! Can't you see that you're _useless _around here!" Clark argued.

"But..."

"No! Get out! Go!" Clark nearly ordered.

Feeling defeated, I slinked my way back out towards the front doors. Right before I pushed them open, I saw Evan with his friends. He had a snicker all over his face. Angry, I shoved the doors open and then slammed them shut, determined to never come back again.

'Oh well, might as well go to work early,' I mused in my mind. 'I could get paid overtime for it!'

After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the Little Rock Commercial Airfield, and walked over to one of the hangars. You see, there's not that many job opportunities that will take a 15 year old in Little Rock, at least besides McDonald's, which wouldn't pay well enough to support both me and a deadbeat father, and combine that with the fact that the only thing that I could do well is flying, I took up a job as a tourist flier, giving people an aerial tour of the oldest mountain range in North America, the Ozarks. It paid well enough, and it was the only job where I could use my flying license.

My boss, Jack, saw me coming and walked over towards me, whistling a carefree tune. "So, Brandon, are you ready to look at that new route we came up with?"

Jack was 23, but still looked like a teenager, with his ruffled black hair never falling the way he wanted it to, and his grin always letting me know things were alright. He was a pretty successful young entrepreneur, and tried to teach me whatever he could about running a successful business, in the hope that I would get a better life for myself.

As I thought about this, however, Jack stared at me as I continued to tune out from him. "Yoohoo, you alive?" Jack leaned into my face, snapping me out of thought. "You ready to test out this new route or what?"

I quickly smiled as I replied, "As much as I'll ever be!" He said, "Ok then, get over here to the plane and get ready for takeoff, you can leave soon."

I strolled over to our biplane, which served as our tour vehicle for scenic flights. People are so easily lured to antiquity as a rat is to cheese, to the point that they would pass up all of the other tour companies simply because our plane, which I had nicknamed Lightning, looked older, and therefore cooler than the typical bush planes that all of the other companies used. I ran around the edge to the side where you were supposed to get in and checked that it was fully fueled.

Jack's phone suddenly buzzed, and he flipped it open and held it up to his ear, sometimes replying to whoever was on the phone with a "Yes" and an "Of course I can". After a few minutes, the call was over and Jack closed his phone again.

"Brandon, I gotta scram. I just got a call from a guy who's got a big deal for me on another biplane, and I gotta get it now." Jack explained. "Check out that route for me, ok?"

"Yeah, I'm on it. Just gotta check up on my survival kit supplies in Lightning, and then I'll be going." I responded. Before I could continue with my work, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Jack. "And relax, ok? Have some fun," he said, with compassion and feelings in both his voice and his mahogany brown eyes. "Ok sir, I'll try - but only if I get paid for it," I replied sarcastically, as a sly smile grew on my face.

Jack laughed. "Now that's what I like to hear. I'll see you later." He then jogged over to his black Dodge truck and drove down the airstrip. I then resumed my mental checklist of the supplies in the survival kit that was required in all planes. Bandages - check. Antiseptic cream - check. Handgun - not check. I then remember I had put in the backseat of Lightning, and reached out and grabbed it, checking to make sure it was in working order.

It was a 9 millimeter Smith and Wesson, and it had the capability of firing both regular bullets, but more often it was used in accordance with tranquilizer darts, since real bullets were only used in a kill or be killed-type situation, like a wild animal attack. I put in a tranq clip and cocked it, keeping the safety on, just in case. I put the gun in a specially-built holster next to my right hand, within easy reach. I was finally ready.

I walked up to the cockpit, fired the ignition, and then ran around to the propeller and spun it as hard as I could. The engine clanked to life (tourists always said that this was the "authentic" part of the trip, manual starting) and I jumped into the cockpit, ready for takeoff. "Lightning 1, you are clear for takeoff, over." The control tower informed me over the small radio. "Thank you, Control, over and out." I simply replied as I let out the brakes and slowly pushed up on the throttle.

Lightning began to "bolt" down the runway as I picked up speed. Finally, I began to pull back on the stick, and the plane began to slowly ascend. I was finally airborne, finally peaceful, finally _free._

I began to angle the plane in the direction of the Ozarks and the new route Jack and I had plotted. Lightning began to sail peacefully over Little Rock, and I admired the view of the city.

Finally, Lightning began to float over the Ozarks, and I was breathtaken by what I saw. The new route we had plotted had the perfect view of the forests and waterfalls, creating a seamless tapestry of beauty right in front of me. "Damn, Jack and I were right," I said aloud.

However, once again, it's when you're not paying attention that things happen to you. I had already learned that once today, and fate seemed intent on making me relearn it.

During my sightseeing, I noticed some small waves in the sky, like the kind you see coming off of the asphalt when it's hot outside. I decided to check them out by flying towards them, which, remarkably, was my path anyways. As I flew straight at them, I began to feel something in my chest, pulling me towards the waves like it was my destiny.

Finally, I closed the distance between Lightning and the waves. Then, the most terrifying moment I have ever experienced happened. The waves suddenly parted to reveal a sea, shrouded in the darkness of nighttime. I was shocked stupid when I first saw this, but quickly realized that I was heading straight for the "portal". I tried to veer up, but it was too late.

Me and Lightning bolted, screaming, through the portal, never to be seen by Earth again.

Free to forge our own destiny.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys! It's me. Sorry about the layout of the last chapter, I'm kinda new to Fanfiction. Hey, I'm learning! As for the two guest reviews, thanks for your enthusiasm! Anyways, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Man, who owns httyd? Oh yeah, not me.**

As soon as I went through the portal, I immediately saw that I was dangerously close to the ocean, and quickly pulled up. As I got to a safer altitude, I got a chance to gather my bearings and figure out where the hell I was.

From what it looked like, the body of water below me was definitely an ocean, proven by the vast numbers of fish swimming around in the water. Simply the spray from the ocean as I flew over it told me it was FREEZING. 'Don't take a swim in _that!_' I thought. Looking up from the ocean, I saw a very different environment from the one I was accustomed to.

The full moon shone upon a wide ocean, dotted with lots of vertical sea stacks of rock that jutted out of the ocean like giant spikes. And I was coming up on them fast. I quickly tugged back on the stick to clear them. 'What kinds of rocks are these?' I wondered.

I continued to fly for an hour, passing over lots of volcanic islands and sea spires. Sadly, however, I had not seen any signs of civilization since entering through the portal. I needed to find a place to land fast, as I was beginning to doze off randomly as we flew over the islands.

Just then, I saw the biggest island I had seen so far looming on the horizon. I knew this was my best chance for an island big enough to land on safely, and I was not going to pass it up. I angled for it and opened up the throttle, gunning the engine as hard as it would go.

The island continued to get bigger, and I actually began to see lights coming from the island, some constant, others flickering on and off. "Finally, civilization! I can figure out where the hell I am and how I got here - hopefully," I thought aloud.

After a few minutes, I was right in front of the town. As I looked down, I saw that these lights were actually fires! 'Oh no! I've got to help these people! Their homes are all burning!' I panicked in my head.

All of a sudden, I heard one man scream, "NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!" 'What the hell's a Night Fury!' I wondered. Just then, there was an explosion of sound, like someone - or something - broke the sound barrier. A blast of bluish light came down and exploded on one of the sea stacks, causing screams as the men on it were hit. Lightning began to roll due to the shockwaves of the sonic blast, and I had to fight just to keep Lightning upright.

Then, something happened. A black mass flew up next to me and leveled off with me as I flew. Then, I saw its eyes. Big, reptilian, green eyes.

I stared into those eyes, and I saw many things; curiosity, killer instinct, but most of all, a very peculiar emotion: fear. Fear of ME. I almost laughed, in spite of myself, at how something could be fearful of a walking toothpick. Then, however, panic quickly set in.

"What is THAT!" I screamed. Just then, I noticed that it had... a tail. And wings. It was too big to be a bird, and it was alive, so it's wasnt a plane. There was only one possibility left, one from long-ago myths, fables, and fairy tales.

"No, no, no, no, NO! This isn't possible! It can't be what I think it is! It can't be a... a dragon!" I shouted.

I looked back down towards the village, and saw that those intermittent beams of light from far away were actually dragons, shooting jets of fire.

"NO! It's IMPOSSIBLE!" I screamed, as I began to think I was going slightly crazy. But I couldn't believe it was false either. It was right in front of me!

Then, I heard something. The _whoosh_ of a rope flying through the air. I looked next to me, and I saw the... Night Fury... was trapped in a thing that looked like a net. The Night Fury quickly began to drop like a stone as it fell towards the forest, unable to fly.

"What is going ON here!" I yelled, to myself this time. But, I heard another _whoosh,_ and the last thing I wanted to hear right after it. The sickening crunch of wood splintering.

The ropes had broken through the wing supports on the right side, making it collapse and Lightning a literal death trap. Lightning quickly began to spin in a spiral, and it took all of the power I put into the stick, jamming it to the left, just to keep Lightning upright.

The rope had also caught the propellor, so I began to quickly lose lift, slowly gliding down towards the forest. For the coup de gras, the rope had ensnared itself over the cockpit, making it impossible to use my parachute, or even get out.

"Oh God, no! I can't get out!" I yelled out loud. 'I'mma have to put Lightning down with an emergency landing in a forest! Oh no,' My brain realized. I had only practiced situations like this once or twice while in Arkansas, since Jack didn't think this would occur often. I mean, it's not every day that a net ensnares your plane and forces you down.

The altimeter began to quickly spin as I continued to fight to stay right-side up. I leveled out Lightning as best I could, but there was no denying it: I was going down, and fast. I needed some kind of clearing to land in.

Then, I heard a cry from below me, and I looked down. That Night Fury was falling into a clearing a ways ahead of me, and it looked like it was having a hard landing. I winced for a second about the thought of that kind of landing, and then it dawned on me: that clearing was the only suitable place for a landing I had seen, and it was probably the last one I would get before I met with an unfortunate fate.

I banked for it, trying to get a clear line at it. "Turn faster! Come on, Lightning!" I berated Lightning. Yes, I was _talking _to my plane. I know, it's pathetic. Anyways, we were only about 50 feet above the tips of the trees, and about 200 feet from the clearing. I kept the steady descent as best I could with a half-mangled plane.

But, the one thing I didn't want to happen happened: one of the ropes dangling from the bottom of the right wing snagged the top of a tree. And that tree was one tough thing. It ripped Lightning's right wing clean off from the main body. Lightning began to do barrel rolls over and over, and over… I get nauseous just thinking about it.

Realizing that my attempt at a partially soft landing was botched, I simply braced as we got close to the bottom of the clearing. Then we landed.

Lightning landed on its broken right wing, and flipped over a few times, throwing me around the small cockpit over and over, turning the landscape around me into a spinning circle of colors.

Just as I thought it was over, an unbearably excruciating pain shot through my left arm. "AAAGGGH!" I screamed. Never in my life had I felt so much pain. Not even when I was beaten by Evan or my father could compare to this. In my pain, I looked at my left arm, to see a wing support from the left wing had stuck itself into my left arm, like a giant jagged splinter.

Lightning finally stopped rolling, and as I looked around while upside down from the crash, I saw that Night Fury on the ground, trapped in the net. Looking at me. Staring at me with those giant green eyes.

Those were the last eyes that locked with mine before I lost consciousness.

**AN: DAH DUH DUH! That last part was emotionally hard to write for me, as I've been in an ATV rollover crash that was basically my template for this. Stick with me, and PLEASE review! I need feedback!**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Hello again everyone, I'm back! I hope you enjoy this new chapter, it's got a lot of stuff crammed in! To the guest review, yes, that was one hell of a wreck. Now imagine being on an ATV and getting thrown off for an extra 15 feet. I had an idea last night, that, since I listen to music while writing these, I would put in the name of an appropriate song to listen to while reading. You guys should tell me whether or not that's a good idea. Anyways, on with the story!

**Song: The theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (y'know, Clint giving the death stare?)**

**Disclaimer: Someone owns httyd. That someone is not me.**

When I regained consciousness, it was about midday, judging from the position of the sun in the spring sky. I realized I was starving, as well as parched. However, I could not remedy this due to the fact that the net was still draped over the cockpit, making it impossible to get out. Then I remembered my survival kit.

'Thank god this stuff is protocol,' I thanked Jack silently. Once I opened it, I took out everything I would need: bandages, antiseptic cream, and a 2 day supply of food and water. Unfortunately, I didn't pack a blade. 'Why do I have a pistol, but not a simple pocket knife?!' I yelled at myself in my head.

Seeing as I couldn't cut the net off, I decided to focus on my most alarming needs first. I ate some of the beef jerky and drank water until I was no longer dying of hunger or thirst. As I was eating, I wondered about what I had seen last night. My body ached and pained all over, and I felt miserable, but I wasn't dead. 'That's good.' I reassured myself. Then, I began to ask myself questions about the legitimacy of what I saw last night.

'Was I dreaming? No, this is proof that I wasn't.' I mentally gestured to the situation around me, as my brain played rounds of Q&A. 'Was I hallucinating about the dragons? No, that wouldn't explain how I saw those quote on quote "jets of fire".' I continued to rule out possibilities.

Then, I saw _it _again. That Night Fury. It was sleeping on its side, tail curled around it, well, at least as well as it could with a net around it. It was quite a dark shade of black, with little scales covering its entire body, making it look like a giant lizard with wings.

As I stared at it from across the small lake that divided us, I thought about the one possibility that I had hoped to God wasn't true. 'Was it... real?' I asked the question in my head. Immediately, a battle erupted inside of me. My logical side screamed at me that it couldn't be possible, that nothing had ever proved their existance on Earth. However, my instinctive and emotional side repeatedly cried out the same thing to every argument my logic could put up: 'The proof's right here. You're looking at it.'

As my mind continued to debate, my body suddenly became the forefront of my attention, as a pain shot through my arm again, drawing my attention to the piece of wood. I knew that wooden spike couldn't be allowed to stay there. If it did, I'd get an infection quickly. All my thoughts now turned to getting that wood out of my arm.

I realized I would have to pull it out after a while, so I got a piece of metal to bite on while I was removing the stick.

Before I started, I poured water all over the wound, to prepare it for removal. As I did this, I thought about where I could possibly be in the world. 'There's a cold ocean around this island, so it's definitely far north. Maybe... Russia? Alaska? Scandinavia? Iceland?' I guessed wildly in my mind.

The next thing I had to do was make sure that when I pulled it out, it wouldn't rupture any of the main arteries in my cardiovascular system. Having done this, I then braced myself for the actual surgery. I chomped down on the bit and took deep breaths as I slightly bumped the stick around. I didn't feel much, thankfully, so I thought it wouldn't be so painful. Oh God, why do you love tricking me so?

As soon as I began to pull, horrible pain jolted my nerves awake, as they began their work to make me feel awful. I knew I couldn't stop now, though, so I just kept on going, kept on pulling. The wood began to slide out, as my jaws became crushers on the bit I was chomping on. It was about halfway out when it hit a fairly big vessel, causing it to rupture. Blood began to pool around the giant splinter, bathing it and my arm in red. I began to panic at that sight, thinking I had ruptured my arm artery, but I couldn't worry about that then. 'I still have to finish the job,' I thought resolutely.

Right at the last tug, the bit fell out of my jaws, and since I didn't have anything to muffle my sounds, I let out a very loud howl as the splinter finally fell out. 'Oh, thank God _that's_ over!' I thought. I quickly bandaged the hole and looked it over, proud of my work. I decided that the best thing I could do right now was conserve my energy and let my wound heal, so I decided to try and drift off to sleep.

As I was about to doze off a few minutes later, however, I heard a twig snap, followed by "I did it! Oh, this changes everything! I caught a Night Fury!"

'Hey, a person!? Maybe they can help me!' I thought. But I decided to stay silent, to see what he was doing. He sounded very happy that he captured that... dragon.

The teen, judging by his very frequent voice cracks, continued on, saying, "I have brought down this mighty beast!" In response, I heard the Night Fury's body shift around, eliciting a yelp of fear from the teen. I had to stifle a laugh. 'This guy doesn't sound like he could conquer anyone or anything, even if his life depended on it.' As I continued to guffaw in my head, the teen stammered, "I-I'm gonna cut y-your heart out and t-take it to my father. I'm a V-Viking."

This last statement created a lot more questions than answers, sadly. Most of them involved my brain using capitals, like 'WAIT! He's a VIKING!?', or 'WHY would you kill a DRAGON!?' I wanted to just shout out, "What the HELL are you doing!?", but I realized he hadn't noticed me yet, and I intended to keep it that way. For all I knew, he was a bloodthirsty Viking that ravaged and destroyed everything. After all, he did threaten to cut out the heart of a fire-spitting dragon.

"I am a VIKING!" I heard the boy yell. But, then, nothing happened. I was expecting a cry from the dragon as its chest cavity was gutted, or a yelp from the boy as the dragon began to struggle, or… something! But my ears were greeted with silence instead.

All I could do was simply wait and listen as the silence dragged out into seeming oblivion. Then, I heard something that bewildered me even more than all of the questions ricocheting around my brain: The sawing of a blade against ropes. As I heard ropes snapping, one question came up: 'What's he doing? I thought he just said he would kill it!' I wondered.

Then I heard a sudden commotion of movement coming from where the downed dragon lay. I realized that the teen had cut the dragon free, and it was probably a big mistake for him. That dragon had seemed hostile earlier, and shooting it down had probably only made it angrier.

As I waited, a silence began to take root once again. But just as I was getting used to it, an unholy scream-like sound pierced through the air, followed quickly by the sound of large wings beating ferociously through the air. As I looked ahead towards one of the cliffs surrounding the clearing, the Night Fury suddenly crashed down in my line of sight, ramming headlong into the cliff and sliding down to the base of it.

I then managed to hear the teen standing up, quickly followed by a thud of a body hitting the ground hard. 'Wow - I think that he just fainted! Why? That dragon just crashed into the cliff face. It didn't sound like it hit him. Oh, whatever. At least I can sleep now.' I slowly began to fade into sleep again.

When I woke up, the sun was just setting, making the sky into a sea of beautiful reds and oranges. It was so nice, so peaceful. But, as always, it wouldn't last. I heard the scuffing of shoes on rocks as someone descended into the clearing.

Whoever it was obviously knew who the teenager passed out on the grass was, as I heard him say "Hiccup! You ok?" with worry lacing every word. In response, I heard the teen on the ground shift around, regaining consciousness after passing out. "Ripper?" I heard the first teenager, Hiccup, ask. "Yeah, it's me." I heard the other voice, belonging to Ripper, reply.

"What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked.

"I was just walking through the forest, when I heard a howl coming from over here. I searched for a few hours around this part of the forest, and found a giant skid mark. I followed it over to here." Ripper replied casually.

"Yeah, I heard it too. I couldn't find the source of it though. Maybe it was that drag…" Hiccup pondered, then stopped, presumably as he realized what he was saying.

"What did you just say?" Ripper asked, his voice now sounding like an interrogation was happening.

"No-Nothing, Ripper! Don't mind it!" Hiccup said in a quivering tone. It was obvious he was lying, and I was willing to bet my life that Ripper could tell too.

"Hiccup… What did you say?" came the reply.

"Well," Hiccup started, but was suddenly interrupted by the unmistakable sound of dragon wings beating through air, followed by a giant crash. I assumed that the Night Fury had made its grand debut to Ripper.

"Hiccup, WHAT did you do!" a panicked Ripper yelled to Hiccup.

"Don't worry, dragon, it's ok, he's not gonna hurt you. Right, Ripper?"

Ripper's shaky breathing echoed throughout the clearing for a minute or so, before the quivering reply came.

"Yeah… dragon… Hiccup, what did you do though?"

'Man, this Ripper kid's got balls.' I marveled in my mind.

"Well, when I told you guys that I downed a Night Fury, I wasn't joking. I found him here in this clearing after following that same howl that you heard."

I shrank in my chair, as I realized that my howl from that last pull during the surgery had attracted both of them - a possibly fatal mistake. Hiccup kept telling the story, and I tuned back in to what he was saying.

"-ed into his eyes and… and saw that he felt just like me. Scared beyond belief, yet resigned to his fate. I couldn't kill him after I saw… that… so I cut him free. He pounced on me and pinned me to the rock. But he didn't kill me. We traded another stare before he let loose a scream, and he tried to fly away. But he couldn't."

"Why not?" Ripper questioned.

"If you take a look at his tail, you'll see why." Hiccup replied.

I heard Ripper move around on the grass, and then say, "Huh. So, does that mean he'll never fly again?"

"Maybe." Hiccup said, with a trace of sadness in his voice.

I tuned out once again and thought to myself, 'What's wrong with his tail?' I had never gotten a good look at it when he was curled up sleeping, or when he slammed into the cliff face. My best guess is that his tailfins were messed up somehow.

"Wait… what's that thing over there?" Ripper asked.

"What thing?"

"That." Ripper replied matter-of-factly.

My heart slammed into the bottom of my gut as I suddenly realized they were talking about Lightning, and therefore me. My heart started to beat a mile a minute as I panicked, realizing that I would soon be discovered. As I heard the two boys walking towards me, I suddenly thought of a possible way out of this that didn't involve me in a coffin. I quickly and silently slipped my handgun out of the holster, turning off the safety and holding it with a death grip in my right hand. I closed my eyes and held my breath as the steps got right next to me.

"What IS this thing?" Ripper asked.

"I dunno, I've never seen anything like it," replied Hiccup, a tinge of wonder and excitement in his voice.

"Oh wait! Hiccup, over here! There's a guy in here! Help me get him out!"

'The plan's working perfectly,' I cackled evilly in my head as I once again heard ropes snapping. After a few seconds, a rope snapped, and my body fell to the ground (I _was _upside down, after all), _looking _limp and lifeless. With the first stage of my plan going off without a hitch, I sprang my second part into action.

My eyes flung open as I did a roll to the right and stood up, immediately pointing my 9 mm at both Hiccup and Ripper. Hiccup's eyes grew wide and his face grew pale, and Ripper took a step back, but maintained a stoic look on his face.

I commanded, "Stay back and nobody gets hurt." Ripper tried to step forward, but I immediately swiveled my gun from Hiccup's head to Ripper's, and he stepped back.

"Ok, the two of you are gonna sit down and tell me where I am and who you are. Understand?" I commanded, but my voice shook a little. Both boys immediately nodded. "Good," I said, "now sit." Both of them sat on the rolling grass, and I followed suit, still aiming the gun at them.

"Ok, now that we're all settled, let's start with names. I'm Brandon. What's your names?"

"I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," said the skinnier one, who I now knew for sure was Hiccup. "And this is my friend, Ripper Bonemold."

"Jeez, who the hell comes up with names like these!" I said, mindboggled at who came up with these godawful names. Nonetheless, I carried on. "Where is this?"

Hiccup snickered as Ripper said, "You're on the island of Berk, in the Barbaric Archipelago."

"It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. We're located solidly on the Meridian of Misery." Hiccup explained.

"That doesn't help, Hiccup! I meant, what country is this?" I said, starting to get agitated with the two teenagers.

"Well... this is the land of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, if that's what you mean." Ripper said, trying to deduce what my question meant.

"No, that's not what I meant! I meant as in Russia, Norway, Iceland, places like that. What COUNTRY are we in?" I said, exasperated with these two.

"Never heard of 'em," Hiccup said matter-of-factly. Ripper nodded along with Hiccup and said, "I'm afraid I've never heard of those places before either."

I sighed in frustration. "Fine! Next question." I had to think for a second before I came to the question I'd been dreading. But, now was as good a time as any to get an answer. "Are there… dragons here?"

Both Hiccup and Ripper stared at me like I was an alien. "Yes, there's dragons here. They're pretty normal on Berk." Ripper said nonchalantly.

My mind and my gun arm crumpled as what was happening around me finally hit me full force, like a train ramming a man at full steam ahead. I lowered the gun as my jaw dropped and my eyes quickly gained the thousand-yard-stare. Ripper saw the opening in my catatonic state, and took it. Before I could react, Ripper lunged onto me, tackling me and pinning me down. Hiccup quickly got up too and grabbed my gun, putting it in his vest as he grabbed the cut net rope to bind my hands behind my back.

I didn't struggle or fight. I didn't care what was happening. My mind was overloaded and threatening to overheat as I struggled to comprehend what had happened to me in two days. I went from a boring old town in the United States to an island twelve days north of Hopeless, a few degrees south of freezing to death, located solidly on the Meridian of Misery, in the middle of god-knows-where, with people that owned names that made Dick van Dyke feel lucky, and...

And dragons.

**AN: Yes, I am taking ONE OC from another story (two if you count his dragon.) Please don't kill me! Let me explain! Ripper is from the author NFS LOVER (props to him), but he never really had a backstory. He was just… there. I'm hoping to flesh out Ripper's character, give him a real personality. Anyways, if you played the song I suggested, you saw why it was so fitting. Please review, and thanks for stickin' with me this far!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm BAACCKK! Hopefully you guys enjoy this, as there were no reviews for the last chapter D: Oh well, I guess Sunday is a bad day to post. Let's try Saturday! **

**Song: Good Life from OneRepublic**

**Disclaimer: Hell, you already know it but I DON'T OWN IT! (panting from outburst)**

A few hours later, I was with Hiccup and Ripper, huddled around the campfire they had made, chilled to the bone under the twinkling nighttime sky. My hands and feet were bound so tightly that I had lost circulation an hour back, and I couldn't sleep yet. Every time I tried conversation, the two teens would brickwall me, so I stopped trying. The three of us just sat in an uncomfortable silence, each unwilling to talk as all of our brains worked overtime.

As the logs turned to embers, Hiccup finally broke the silence, asking "What is this thing?", pointing at the gun in his hand. I replied, "Imagine one of your catapults or bows, but super small and ten times more powerful. Don't fire it though, it's dangerous."

"Wow," Hiccup said, amazed, "how come I - er, _we _haven't invented this yet?"

"Because the main thing that the gun uses to propel the projectile - or bullet, as it's called, is a complex chemical formula called gunpowder." I explained to an excited Hiccup.

"Huh, I see. What about that?" Hiccup pointed to the mangled wreck of Lightning.

"That thing's called a plane, and it's a machine that flies. It uses a machine called an engine to propel it forwards."

"Interesting. How does this engine thing work?"

"Good question. You see, it takes this liquid called gasoline, and then it..."

As I continued to explain the intricacies of an engine to Hiccup, Ripper looked around the clearing, not caring about our conversation. Then, he suddenly blurted out, "Where did _you_ come from, Brandon?"

I was a little stumped on how to answer this question, fully knowing that revealing the truth could shatter any friendly relations between us. However, I knew I had to come clean or else those Hairy Hooligans that Ripper talked about earlier probably couldn't help me get back home. I took a deep breath, and took a giant leap of faith.

I told the truth.

"You see, one day I was flying with my plane over a mountain range of my country, the United States of America, and-"

"The United _States? _What's a state?" Hiccup inquired, puzzled.

"Well, it's like one of your tribes, like the Hairy Hooligans here on Berk. The United States is like 50 of those tribes working together, like a confederation."

"Interesting idea. Anyways, continue." Ripper beckoned.

"So, I saw some little ripples in the air ahead of me, and I headed towards them. When I got close, the waves opened up and I saw your ocean through it. I flew through the portal thing to the Barbaric Archipelago, as you called it, and flew over to here, looking for a place to land my plane. I witnessed that dragon attack on your village, and then that Night Fury flew up next to me. After that, two giant nets, the one I'm tied up with, came up and one hit the Night Fury. The other hit me and my plane. I crash-landed here, with a giant wooden spike lodged in my arm from the landing. I had to perform an emergency surgery, but the bit fell out as I was pulling, and I let out that howl that brought both of you here. I heard everything that happened with Hiccup and the dragon, as well as Ripper getting here. And here we are." I explained all that had happened to me lately.

Hiccup had an ashamed look on his face ever since I mentioned the nets, and he soon spoke up. "I'm sorry," he said, crestfallen.

"For what?" Ripper asked.

"Those nets came from my new bola launcher that I created to shoot down the Night Fury. I had set up on the hill that night, and saw the Night Fury, but not you. I took a shot, and managed to hit the rarest dragon in the Archipelago." Hiccup explained.

"Well, you can also cross a time and dimension-traveling teenager driving a plane off that list of the rarest things you've ever shot down." I replied, irritation dripping from my mouth.

"Well, now that that mystery's cleared up, let's move on to the other one: what are we going to do with you?" Ripper changed the subject.

I gulped hard: that question had a very sinister double meaning to it. "You could take me into town, maybe." I replied, clearly shaken.

"And we'd tell everyone what? 'Hey guys, look, we found a time traveler from the future, accept him like he was here the whole time!'" Ripper said, mocking my idea.

Ripper did bring up a good point there, though. How would the village react to me if I just waltzed in? I'm sure it wouldn't be like The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy headed into Munchkin Town, that's for sure. "Um, well, maybe you could bring me in as a prisoner, have me serve a small sentence, and then say that I'm rehabilitated, or something like that. I can't leave, 'cause my plane's screwed and I can't stay out here, I don't know the terrain or how to hunt, not to mention that I'm defenseless against a dragon attack."

"He's got a point, Ripper. He can't really do anything but be taken into the village, but he can't give out his real alibi." Hiccup backed me up.

"Ah! I've got it! We say that you were shipwrecked off the coast, in the Sea Stacks. Then we request that you stay, since you don't want to go back to where you came from, lets say, Rune." Ripper laid out his master plan to us.

"Alright, that sounds good, but one more thing, Brandon: Can we trust you?" Hiccup asked the vital question.

I already had the answer ready, locked and loaded. "Cut me free. Let me show you." I invited. Ripper looked quite on edge and nervous, but Hiccup was willing to give me a chance, and I was not planning on staying tied up like a criminal. Hiccup moved over to me and sawed on my leg ropes first, then moved behind me and freed my arms. I rubbed my chafed wrists, with the two teens eyeing me carefully. I strolled over to Lightning, and called back to Hiccup, "Can I use your knife?" Hiccup hesitated for a minute, but then said, "Yeah, sure," as he tossed the knife over to me. I cut out the holster from Lightning, and looped a small leather string through the belt loop on my sky blue jeans, connecting the two and making me look like a wannabe Clint Eastwood. I walked back over to the two, and asked Hiccup the critical question: "Can I have my gun back?"

I knew that this question was going to be hard, so I reassured the teenagers. "Here, I'll give you your knife back. If I try to do anything, you can just stab me." I handed the knife back to Hiccup, who took it with a wary eye. After a few more minutes of silent debate, Hiccup made his choice.

He handed the gun back towards me.

I took it from him as I inspected it, making sure it was in working order. Then, I proceeded to unload the gun, taking out the clip and clearing the chamber. I took the clips and shoved them in another belt loop in my jeans, showing the emptied weapon to Hiccup and Ripper before putting it in the holster. I was ready. "Ok, let's go," I said, beckoning for Hiccup to take the lead. Ripper would guard me from behind, just in case I tried something stupid.

We trudged through the winding path, trees shadowing the three of us as we hiked through the forest. Soon, the trees began to thin out, and we came among small farms and houses, the beets and turnips that were growing in the rock-hard soil looking tough and tasteless. I saw a few people walking around, adorned in furs and iron, being almost inhumanly tall, like giants. They didn't notice us however, as they minded their business and we minded ours. We soon arrived at the outskirts of Berk, as the houses got very crowded up ahead.

I took a deep breath as I walked into the town square. All of the people that were active there stopped what they were doing and stared at me, soon whispering about my strange clothes and attitude. I breathed a laugh, as jeans and a t-shirt were usual where I came from. Nevertheless, the three of us quickly pressed on, hiking up the hill at the bottom of the giant mountain that dominated the center of the island. At the top, it leveled out to reveal a pair of colossal doors that were implanted into the side of the mountain.

"We're here," Ripper said proudly.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" I asked.

"The Great Hall. This is the place where the tribe meets, sometimes about important stuff, but usually to share a tankard of mead." Hiccup said. He pushed open the massive doors, revealing the giant interior. I stood in awe.

There was a giant open pit fire in the middle of a giant cave, crisscrossed with wooden beams on the roof, all intricately carved and painted. The cavern itself was big enough to house the same hangar that held Lightning back at Little Rock. There were a few people drinking and talking around the fire, and Hiccup walked towards one group of two, with Ripper motioning for me to follow, so I did.

As we got close, Hiccup said, "Hey Dad, Gobber, look who we found on the shore!" The two burly men turned around and I visibly gulped and started to sweat.

They were both monsters of men, being very muscular and strong. One of them had a red beard stretching out from his chin like it was on fire, and his green eyes narrowed a tiny bit as he saw me, but remained silent. The other examined me with his blue eyes, stroking his blond beard softly, deep in thought. I noticed that he was missing two of his limbs, one arm and one foot, replaced with wooden substitutes. The red bearded one spoke first, saying, "Who is this, Hiccup?"

"This is Brandon, Dad. Brandon, this is Stoick the Vast, the chief of the Hairy Hooligans - and my dad. The blond's name is Gobber the Belch. He's the village blacksmith, and I'm his apprentice." Hiccup replied.

"H-Hello, um, what should I call you?" I stuttered. "Just Chief is fine," Stoick boomed. I backed up a step, almost tripping over myself. This was _not _a good first impression. "You can just call me Gobber," Gobber said, chuckling quietly. I laughed nervously. "Ok, Gobber."

"So, what tribe do you come from? Let's just say you don't look like much of a Viking." Stoick asked.

Hiccup saved me, saying "He's from Rune. His ship crashed offshore and he got washed up on the beach. We were hoping that you would let him live here, because he doesn't want to go back. He was leaving when he shipwrecked, you see."

Stoick rubbed his chin, thinking hard. He finally asked me a question: "Why don't you want to go back?"

I panicked, before my brain finally had a great explanation. "My parents just had a divorce. I couldn't live with the shame and ridicule that would bring me." I explained, praying that Stoick would believe my reason. From what I had learned about ancient cultures, divorces were shameful to anyone in the family.

Gobber butted in to our conversation, finally breaking his silence. "I see, that 'ould be hard to live wit," he said. His thick Scottish lilt made him sound just like an Englishman, but, it was better than the Saxon accents that everyone else had. Stoick nodded along with him.

"Alright, I'll let you stay, if Hiccup and Ripper vouch for you," Stoick said. My heart leapt for joy at that. "Well boys, do you?"

Hiccup responded immediately, "Absolutely. I trust him with my life." He had taken my gestures of trust back at the plane fully. Ripper, on the other hand, didn't reply immediately, and Stoick's eyes took on a cold glare. I gulped, begging Ripper silently to vouch for me.

"Yeah, I trust him." Ripper finally decided. I did a mental fist pump, cheering for my new best friend.

"Ok, you can take Finn's old house. He just died and he had no relatives or children, so it's open now. You can move in there." Stoick said.

"Thank you, Chief. Your kindness is much appreciated." I bowed respectfully, not entirely sure what to do, before a hand clapped me on the back so hard I almost fell over.

"Congratulaterns, Brandon! Let's celerbrate wit a bit o' mead!" Gobber congratulated me.

"I'll take you up on that later, Gobber. Right now I had best be getting my new house in working order." I laughed.

"See you later, Dad!" Hiccup yelled over his shoulder as the three of us strode out of the Great Hall. "That went over better than I had thought it would." I sighed, relieved.

"Well, I'll show you to Finn's old house. Let's get going." Hiccup said.

"I can't, my mom's probably furious for being out so late already. Being gone longer will only make it worse." Ripper apologized.

"Ok, see you tomorrow, Ripper," I said. Ripper waved goodbye as he bounded back down the mountain. Hiccup and I started the descent, getting two-thirds of the way down before Hiccup took a dirt path running off to the side of the road, and I quickly followed. After another few minutes, we came across a house, and Hiccup stopped. "This was Finn's house. It's yours now," he said.

The house was a triangular shape, with the base being at the front. Sitting on the hill over the village, I could see all the way to the sea from here, a beautiful view. The house itself had many carvings and murals on the front. On the main beam, a dragon's head stuck out, it's eyes staring at all who passed. Up against the left side was a small patch of dirt that was fenced off, which I presumed was a garden. However, the house was falling apart. The paint on the carvings was flaking and peeling on everything, and some of the wood looked rotten. The garden hadn't been tilled in a while, and grass was growing in it. I sighed. This place looked like one of my grandparents' restoration projects. "It'll do, but I'll have to do some work on it." I said.

Hiccup laughed. "It certainly needs some love." Anyways, I'll see you later. Stop by the forge, and we'll see about getting you a job."

"Bye, Hiccup," I said, giving him a firm handshake as he left.

I went inside and looked around, it being just as out of shape as the outside. I slowly trudged up the stairs to my room, collapsing on my straw mattress in exhaustion. I blew out the candle and fell into a sound sleep with no dreams, no new worlds to explore.

After all, I was already in one.

**AN: We're gonna live in Berk! Huzzah! (coughs) Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy that chapter, and please leave a review! I need to know if anything's wrong with this so far so I can fix it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Heeeeyy! Wassup homies! New chapter for my favorite peeps in the 'verse!**

**Song: Money for Nothing by Dire Straits (and your chicks for free)**

**Disclaimer: (sigh) Do I have to do this still? Fine. I don't own httyd. There. Happy?!**

I woke up that morning feeling ready to take on this new world, and I was betting on needing every last drop of energy to make it through the day. First, I had to straighten up my new house. I rearranged the tables and chairs to fit them around the open fire pit. Then, I swept the rugs and made the bedspread. Finally, I looked over the house, checking for any other work that needed to be done. Satisfied for now, I walked out the door, met by a blast of icy air. I huddled in my t-shirt and hurried down the hill towards the docks. As I neared the forge, I heard the thud of hammer against iron, and saw the sparks flying. I hoped that Hiccup knew what he was doing.

I knocked on the side beam of the entrance, and Gobber noticed and stood up, waving. "Ah Brandon, what brings you 'ere? Not takin' me up on me offer yet, are ye? I got workin' to do!" Gobber chuckled.

"Not yet, Gobber. Tonight sounds much better." I laughed. "But right now, I'm looking for Hiccup. He said he'd be here. You don't happen to have seen him, have you?"

Gobber straightened up. "Why, I 'ave. 'E's in 'is section of the workshop, in the back. I'm sure you can find 'im."

"Thanks, Gobber. See you tonight in the Great Hall," I waved goodbye and smiled, before turning to make my way in between the grindstones and anvils that crowded the front of the forge. After a few minutes of bobbing and weaving, I made it to a door in the back. I reached out to open it.

And got slammed in the face.

Hiccup burst through the door, a grin all over his face. He then saw me, melded with the door, my eyes slits staring at Hiccup in anger and extreme pain. Hiccup's face fell and he began to laugh nervously.

"Thanks, Hiccup." I growled, removing my face from the door.

"Anytime, Brandon," he replied casually. "But, anyways, perfect timing. I need you to help me with something."

"Ok," I replied as I entered Hiccup's workshop. The walls were full of drawings of dragon weapons and traps, all very detailed and smart. Almost all of them, however, had a red X over them, indicating that they had failed. I felt bad for Hiccup that all of his good designs failed somehow, as indicated by the sidenotes on them: blown up by Nadder, trampled by Gronkle, accidentally set off by twins, etc. One didnt have an X on it: the bola launcher. Instead, it was circled with the sidenote: works! Night Fury shot down.

Hiccup was over at the table, pouring over one drawing, and I went to take a look at what it was. "Hey! That's a mattress!" I realized as I saw it. Hiccup's face lit up as he turned to me. "You had these in the future?!"

"Yeah, and I can show you how to make one." I offered. Hiccup quickly nodded. "Ok, I need some paper to draw on, to show you what you need to know." Hiccup slapped down a fresh piece of paper to write on, and a small charcoal stick to write and draw with. I began to draw a spring for Hiccup, explaining to him what this did in a mattress. I stood up, and faced Hiccup. "Let's get to work."

After a few hours, I had enough springs to create an actual mattress. "Ok, now let's fill the sheepskin up with these to make the actual mattress." I instructed Hiccup. With Hiccup's help, the mattress filled up quickly, and we sewed up the hole that the springs had gone in through. Finally, it was done. "Give it a try, Hiccup," I gestured to the bed. Hiccup laid down on the mattress, occasionally shifting around from side to side. "This is a big improvement over straw mattresses," he said. "I think that if we traded this for a lower price than those feather mattresses that Trader Johann brings in, then we could make a nice profit off these."

"Traded?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, traded. You see, we don't use real money here. Instead, we trade things, like chicken and yaks, for things that we want."

"Huh, so, what do you think we could get out of this?" I asked.

"Well, the feather ones are about three yaks, so this could be about one yak and two chickens. Don't forget though, we barter and dicker a lot over trades down here. I'm not good at it, so I won't get the highest prices." Hiccup lamented sadly.

"Don't worry, I drive a hard bargain. I'll get us some good chickens and yaks," I assured Hiccup.

"Ok then, let's get out there and sell this thing, Brandon!" Hiccup cheered. I, meanwhile, groaned, knowing we'd have to get the mattress back through the forge again. I shuddered at the thought of the mess out there.

After many minutes of dragging the mattress around, we stumbled outside with the mattress in tow. Hiccup set it down on the dirt and leaned over to me. "Now, we sit down and wait." I proceeded to sit and wait while passerby gave me odd glances. Hiccup had pulled out his notebook, and I leaned in over his shoulder to see what he was drawing.

The page he was on contained a detailed drawing of the Night Fury from the cove. As Hiccup thought, he suddenly erased the left tailfin from his drawing. 'Was that what was wrong with it?' I wondered. I still had never gotten a good look that night because it had slept on the other side of the lake. Six shadows appeared, interrupting my thoughts and Hiccup's drawing. He snapped his book shut and we both stood up.

In front of us were five teenagers, six if you counted Ripper sitting in the back. The one in the front looked muscular, like a young Stoick. However, unlike Stoick, I could tell that he had Evan's brain just by how he acted. The next two were bashing their helmets together - with their heads still in them. Their long hair made them look eerily similar, and I could tell they were twins by how they acted with each other. The next boy was quite - well, husky, but he seemed to be the only one so far with a brain. Then, I saw the last teen, and my heart leapt up into my throat.

This last teen was a goddess among mere mortals, a shining perfection of a girl. Her long blond hair matched her ice blue eyes so perfectly, and her shoulder pad and leather headband only added to her shining complexion. I was so spellbound that I didn't notice how my jaw was hanging down until she brought the blunt edge of her axe up and gently closed it. I stood there, stockstill, absolutely stunned.

"Haven't seen you around before. You must be that new guy who got shipwrecked here. The name's Astrid. Astrid Hofferson. The buff loser is Snotlout, the two idiots are Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and the husky one's Fishlegs."

"H-H-H… Hi! My name's Brandon. And your guess was correct, I am the guy that shipwrecked." I stammered, looking red as a beet.

"So, what are the two of you doing out here? And what's this?" Astrid looked down at the mattress.

"Oh, that's a new type of mattress that Brandon helped me with. We call it a spring mattress, because it uses this metal thing called a spring to…"

"Blah blah blah! Nobody cares about your stupid inventions!" Snotlout piped up. This struck a serious chord, and I straightened up slowly. Astrid tried to motion for Snotlout to shut up, but it was too late. "You and your friend could matter less to me, _especially_ your new friend of yours," he said to Hiccup, before switching to me, "yeah, you! Why'd you make friends with this loser! You're probably a loser yourself, then!"

I had had enough. I stepped closer to Snotlout and said, "I'd be careful if I were you. You don't know what you're up against. You'd better watch your back, Snot." I gave him a glare, hoping he would take the bluff. I knew that I was no match for him, but I gambled on the fact that since I was new, he wouldn't know what I was capable of. Surprisingly, he bit. Snotlout backed away and stayed silent. Astrid gave me an impressed smirk before picking back up with our conversation.

"So, are you selling it?"

"Yeah, we wanted a yak and two chickens for it." Hiccup set the price.

"Well, I need a new mattress, but I don't think

a yak and two chickens are worth it." Astrid argued, and Hiccup glanced at me. I knew this was where the haggling began.

"Why would you think that?" I questioned.

"Because, I don't know how good it is," Astrid replied.

"Well then, give it a spin." I gestured to the mattress, and Astrid lay down on it, slowly shifting around.

"Well, this is definitely better than my old one," Astrid decided, standing back up. "But, I still think it's not worth the price.

"Why not? From what Hiccup's told me, this is cheaper than the feather mattresses that Trader Johann brings. It's a better deal, and it's better than a straw mattress."

Astrid seemed stumped for a moment, but then smirked. "But, you don't know for sure what it's actually worth. You don't know what a yak or a chicken's worth yet." My eyes widened, and I glanced back at Hiccup. Astrid was right, I didn't know exactly what it was worth. She had found my weakness.

"Well, I trust Hiccup to set the right price." I countered.

"But you don't know for sure. Hiccup could have insanely overpriced it." Astrid shot back.

"I trust Hiccup. Here, I'll make you a deal. I'll take one yak and one chicken for it, AND I'll throw in a free sharpening for that axe."

Astrid tried to fight back. "No, that's still too high," she said.

"Take it or leave it." I shrugged and then stared down an unwavering Astrid. Our eyes locked and had a power struggle, ice blue meeting sapphire blue, until Astrid looked away. I smirked. I had won.

"Deal." Astrid finally accepted. She spit in her hand and stuck it out, and I did the same. We shook, but she pulled me over to her and leaned in. I was afraid that she would punch me, but instead, she whispered, "I like you. I like that fighting spirit. What do you say we talk over some mead?"

"Well, I've got a drink to have with Gobber, if you don't mind the company." I replied. Astrid cracked a small smile.

"Done. See you tonight." Astrid leaned back out and said in a louder tone, "I'll bring your payment and we'll trade in a bit. See you guys." She walked away, with the other teens, except Ripper, following behind. Hiccup, meanwhile, was staring at me like I was a god. "What is it, Hiccup?" I said, exasperated.

"You won an argument with THE Astrid Hofferson!" Hiccup said. "Yeah, I know her name." I said sarcastically. "That's, like, impossible! She tears people who argue with her to shreds!" Hiccup ranted, amazed. Ripper clapped me on the back, saying "Congrats. You did the impossible."

"Hey, at least it sold. What are yaks and chickens really worth, anyways?" I said. Hiccup laughed at that. The three of us then stood there for about another minute, when Astrid arrived, alone this time. Trailing behind her was a yak on a rope, and she was holding a chicken under her arm. "Here you go, guys," Astrid said, handing me the rope and chicken and handing Hiccup her axe, with him struggling under its weight. "That should be sharpened by tonight, just in case of a dragon attack." She took the mattress from Hiccup and began to lug it back up the hill. With our business concluded, I turned to the next matter.

"Snotlout."

"What do you want with that overgrown yak?" Tuffnut asked.

"I want to teach him a lesson. Show him that he's not the best." I said.

"But what are you gonna do?" Ruffnut asked, confused.

"That's where you two come in. I need you guys to help me prank him - hard." I said, smirking.

With Ripper's help, I had found the twins, and now I was counting on them to help me. Of course, I needed to convince them that helping me was worth it.

"What's in it for us?" Tuffnut asked.

"You get to see Snotlout's face when we prank him," I egged them on. I didn't have to.

"Deal!" They both immediately shouted. I grinned. This was going to be funny.

The three of us snuck up to the window of Snotlout's room silently and looked inside. I pointed to a stuffed yak on his bed. "There. That's perfect. He'll be so humiliated if the village finds this out."

"Yeah, we can use this. Ruffnut, go put this in a place where everyone can see it." Tuffnut ordered.

"Ok... Wait, where is that again?" I had to put my hand on my chin just so that I wouldn't facepalm. "Up in the middle of the Great Hall." I sighed.

"Oh, right! Ok, I'll go and do that!" Ruffnut said, dashing off up the hill towards the doors.

"Oh, this is gonna be gooooood." Tuffnut said, chuckling, and I joined in. This _was_ gonna be goooood!

After I left Ruff and Tuff, I fed my new yak and chicken and decided to build the chicken a coop. Within an hour, that was done and I built the yak a water and food trough. After that, I tilled my new garden, and got it prepared to grow seeds. Then, I went inside and started a fire in the pit for later, and lit all of the candles. Finally, nighttime had come, and I walked up the hill to the giant doors of the Great Hall. I opened them and immediately saw Gobber sitting alone at one of the tables, and I walked over there. As I sat down, Gobber smiled and said, "Ey, Brandon! Grab a drink!"

"Ok, be right there. Where's the mead at?" I asked, scanning the room.

"Over there, by the fire. Just pop open a barrel an' dip a mug." Gobber directed me.

I left the table and grabbed a mug before dipping it into the barrel, pulling it out full of mead. I sat back down next to Gobber and took a few swigs, quickly getting used to the bitter taste, when a hand slapped me on the back. I turned around to see Astrid and the other teens, who left as Astrid grabbed a mug and sat down next to me. She took a swig and then cleared her throat.

"So, where did you come from? No one ever told me." Astrid asked.

"Rune. My parents had a divorce. I couldn't live with that." I said.

Astrid looked at me with a stoic expression, but her eyes betrayed a hint of... pity, I'm guessing. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I've honestly gotten used to it," I said, shrugging it off as I took another swig of mead.

Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted by a panicked yell. I turned around and saw Tuffnut pointing at one of the roofing beams over the giant pit fire. I followed his finger, and saw Snotlout's stuffed yak sitting there. I turned back and saw Snotlout panicking next to Tuffnut. He climbed the beam and got his stuffed yak back as he then proceeded to run down the main walkway. I swear that I heard him say as he passed, "Don't worry Fluffy. You're safe now,". Gobber, Astrid, the rest of the hall and I were dying of laughter as Snotlout sprinted out the doors.

"Let me guess, that was you." Astrid said between laughs.

"Guilty as charged, but with help from the twins," I defended myself as I began to cry from laughing so hard.

"Well, it was worth it. I don't think Snotlout will act so high and mighty anymore," Astrid chuckled.

I laughed all the way until my mug was empty, and I bid my new friends goodbye. I laughed all the way to my house. I laughed as I blew out the candle to go to sleep. But right before sleep took me in its clutches, I realized something.

I was making a name for myself in this world.

**AN: Hahahahaha! Sucks to suck, Snotlout! (coughs) Man, these outbursts are getting out of control. Anyways, I thought that the verbal power struggle between Brandon and Astrid was a really bad scene, but I couldn't make it any better than it was. Oh well. Please review and have a good day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello my fellow readers and writers! New chapter and stuff related to it.**

**Song: Everybody Wants You by Billy Squier**

**Disclaimer: Own httyd, I do not.**

We were in the cove once again, with Hiccup carrying a small cod that he had caught off of the coast, and he planned to use it in a way to "get the dragon's trust". How he planned to do it, Ripper and I had no idea. We got down into the cove, with the three of us scanning it, looking for the Night Fury. Ripper looked behind us and suddenly froze, staring at the rocks behind us.

He whispered to us, "It's right behind us, Hiccup. Time for that "great" plan you had," using air quotes around great. Hiccup and I turned around and saw the Night Fury, crawling down the rocks in an attack posture, low to the ground and emitting a deep growl. Hiccup slowly pulled out the cod and held it out towards the Night Fury, who looked at it curiously. He slinked forwards a few steps, but suddenly stopped and got set back in his attack stance, rumbling again. I noticed Hiccup's hand stray to his dagger in his belt, his face lighting up in understanding. The Night Fury became even more hostile as Hiccup touched the small knife. Nervous, yet knowing what to do, Hiccup pulled the dagger out, showing it to the Night Fury. Then, as it watched, he dropped it, before throwing it into the lake next to us with his foot. The Night Fury relaxed, sitting up, his eyes now circles instead of slits. Hiccup once again held out the cod, like an offering to the Night Fury. It slowly approached Hiccup, leaning out towards him, before slowly opening his mouth, revealing his gums, but no teeth. "Toothless, huh? I could have sworn you had..." Hiccup started, but was suddenly halted as the Night Fury's jaws suddenly filled up with razor-sharp teeth. He lunged forward and snatched the fish out of Hiccup's hands, chewing and swallowing it in the blink of an eye.

Hiccup, clearly shaken, added, "…teeth." Ripper and I watched as the Night Fury ran to the other side of the cove, still eyeing us from a distance. As I watched it, I noticed something shining between the trees past the cusp of the cliffs. My curiosity piqued, I scrambled out of the cove, walking between the giant pines on the edge.

As I rounded a tree, I saw that a giant metal circle was lying on the ground, with the lids closed. I could hear soft moans and groans coming from inside. The only animal this big that Vikings trapped were... dragons. I was wondering about what kind of a dragon this was, exactly, before I realized something: that dragon is going to die if it doesn't get help. I knew that the right thing to do would be to let it out, but we're talking about a giant firebreathing reptile that could annihilate an army with so much as a blink of an eye. It wasn't exactly a helpless rabbit or squirrel we're talking about here. However, I hoped for a miracle of passive behavior towards me, like Hiccup and that Night Fury.

In hindsight, that was probably a _really _bad idea.

I slowly approached the trap, looking for a way to disarm it. I saw a small lever sticking out of the side of the base. I guessed that that was the way to open it, and I went for it. I tugged hard on it. It didn't budge. I put my back into it, setting my feet harder into the ground before pulling again. It still refused to move. I put my legs on the sides of the trap, leaned back and pulled as hard as I could. After a few seconds, the lever finally budged. It slowly moved to the other side, and the metal jaws of the trap slowly opened, creaking open. The dragon inside suddenly shifted around, but didn't get out of the trap. The jaws finally stopped moving, and the dragon finally stepped out of the trap, standing up to its full height. It opened its wings and let out a explosive cry. I nearly pissed myself at the sight in front of me.

The dragon was blood red, with the sun gleaming off of it giving him a very intimidating look. Two massive horns jutted out from his head, crooked and splayed out in weird directions, ringed like the tree rings of a sequoia. His wings were the truly intimidating part of his body. They were colossal, and stretched across the entire clearing, about the length of _four _school buses. His yellow eyes stared at me as if I was nothing, a mere speck of dust to him. His snakelike body, which I noticed had no legs, slithered around behind him as he sat in front of me. But the worst was yet to come.

He looked awfully hungry.

He suddenly moved, twisting in his spot. I was so scared that I dropped to the ground, not thinking about it. As I watched, the dragon began to spin in place, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. I wondered what he was doing, but then I saw what was happening with his wings. They were going right through the trees, like they weren't there at all. I was shocked stupid by this. 'What, a ghost dragon now?' My mind sarcastically remarked. As I lay, the dragon suddenly stopped spinning, staring at me once again, letting out a cry that sounded like a cannon shot. All the trees began to shift around, and I thought that his cry was so powerful that all of the trees shook. But, as I watched, the most astounding thing happened.

The trees fell down.

All of them fell to the ground, crashing to the forest floor, most with three or four clean cuts through them. As the forest came tumbling down around me, I thought with wonder, 'His wings… cut through the trees? Are you frickin' serious!? They've gotta be razor sharp or something!' Then, I looked back up, and saw him staring at me. I nervously stood back up, before our eyes locked again. I stared at him, refusing to move, showing no weakness. He did the same. I felt this… feeling, like we knew each other, and were soulmates of a kind. I felt as if he was connected to me somehow, someway, creatures from different times and dimensions. Suddenly, a rustle came from the bushes to the side, and we broke eye contact, our connection broken, gone. As we watched, Ripper suddenly burst through the bushes, with Hiccup trailing behind. They both stopped and stared at us with awe and wonder in their eyes. The two of us locked eyes once more, before it moved its head in a seemingly nodding motion. As I mulled over this, puzzled, it let out one more cannon shot-cry before suddenly flapping its wings, taking off and swiftly leaving. Hiccup slowly walked up to me as I watched the dragon fly off into the horizon.

"How… why… that was a Timberjack." Hiccup stuttered in amazement.

"I see why," I replied. "He cut down an entire surrounding of a goddamn clearing, after all."

"Wow," was all that Hiccup could say.

Ripper came up behind me, slapping me on the back and saying, "Good job, Brandon. You didn't die."

"So, what did you guys do?" I asked nonchalantly. Hiccup couldn't speak, so Ripper spoke for him.

"Hiccup named the Night Fury Toothless and then Toothless regurgitated that fish that Hiccup fed him and Hiccup ate it," he replied.

"Huh, sounds like fun, right Hiccup?" I asked sarcastically. Hiccup wasn't paying any attention to either of us, or anything for that matter. But, as I sat there, I realized something.

I had gone toe to toe with a wild dragon, and it didn't kill me. 'Are dragons even killers? Are they monsters?' I thought. 'Oh well, that doesn't matter at this moment.'

I had gone toe to toe with a wild… Timberjack, and I made it out fine. A good start.

**AN: SHHIIIITTT that was EPIC! Well, we have met a certain dragon, and if you can't figure out what this dragon means to the plot yet, then you may be retarded. Please visit your doctor.**

**See ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello guys! Back with Chapter 7! Hope you enjoy!**

**Song: Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC**

**Disclaimer: Do I own httyd! HELL NAW!**

That next morning, I was wandering around the middle of town, before a certain bulky man came through, walking with a purpose. He seemed to notice me, and he slowly sauntered over to where I was standing. I wasn't facing him, and a mischievous smile lit up his face as he crouched and snuck up behind me, before putting his hand on my shoulder and saying, "Gotcha'!"

I shrieked like a girl, spinning on my heel to face the man, pulling my gun from the holster and aiming for the head. As I stared down the sights, the man yelled, "Don't shoot!"

"Gobber! Don't SCARE me like that!" I complained, putting my hands on my knees as I bent over and took a large breath. As if on cue, Gobber slapped me on the back, and I had to catch myself from slamming into the ground. I stood back up and faced Gobber, tears of mirth and laughter at another's expense rolling down his face.

"Yer face, lad! That was worth it!" He said in between laughing fits. I put my hands on my hips, waiting for him to finish giggling. He finally calmed down. "But, that's not why I'm 'ere. I want ye to come with me fer somethin'."

"What is it?" I asked, curious. "Ye gotta come along to find out," he said before walking off. He turned back as he realized that I wasn't following him, and he waved with his one good hand, motioning for me to follow. Even though I hated surprises, I was curious. I reluctantly fell in stride with Gobber.

We quickly crossed town, arriving a a giant chain-link dome, surrounded on two sides by cliffs, and one side by the mountain towering above us. I stood by the edge, looking down into the ring to see a flat floor, surrounded by giant doors, with a pile of shields off to one side. The doors had giant logs in latches over them, like giant locks. I wondered what exactly they were holding. Gobber and I walked down into the arena, and I stood there, admiring the chain-link roof. Then, the gate behind me opened once again, and I turned around. My eyes were met by the five teens and Ripper strolling through the gate into the center of the arena, Astrid in the lead. "Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber announced.

Astrid muttered something, but it was too low for me to hear. The twins, however, blessed all of us with their own retarded comment. "I hope I get some serious burns." Ruffnut said, completely serious.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back," Tuffnut replied, also dead serious.

Astrid even butted in, saying, "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." 'God, these people are either weird or insane,' I thought.

Then, I heard another voice pipe up from the back. "Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." The group all turned around to see Hiccup, lugging an axe twice his size behind him. I felt sorry for him; that axe was way too big and heavy for someone of his stature. I heard groans escape from all of the teens.

"Who let him in?" Tuffnut asked. Gobber chose that moment to interrupt before more verbal abuse was heaped on Hiccup. "Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village." he stated.

Snotlout chose to insert a comment there. "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or…?" he remarked snidely. I thought for sure that Hiccup would have exploded there, but it looked like it just slid off him, based on his expression. I was impressed, and a little angry for him that he took these insults so well.

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut questioned. Gobber went to Hiccup, talking about something like how since he's small, he won't be as much of a target. He then walked towards the cages. The eight of us stood there; me with my trusty Smith and Wesson, Hiccup with his battleaxe, Astrid with her battleaxe, Ripper with his broadsword, Fishlegs with his stone hammer, Tuffnut with his spear, Ruffnut with her spear, and Snotlout with his mace, all in a line.

Gobber walked in front of the cages, going slowly. "Behind these doors are a few of the many species you'll learn to fight." I could see Fishlegs next to me, bouncing up and down in pure excitement.

"The Deadly Nadder," Gobber began his list, and so did Fishlegs. "Speed eight. Armor sixteen."

"The Hideous Zippleback," Gobber continued, unaware of Fishlegs. "Plus eleven stealth. Times two." Fishlegs recited. 'Jeez, he sounds like a video game!' I thought.

"The Monstrous Nightmare," quickly followed by a "Firepower fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror," Gobber said, and Fishlegs added, "Attack eight. Venom twelve." Gobber was finally sick of that though. "CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" he bellowed.

"And, the Gronckle." Gobber finished. Fishlegs couldn't contain it though, as he whispered, "Jaw strength eight."

As Gobber reached for the lever that kept the wooden log across the gate, Snotlout stepped forward, saying, "Woah, wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?" with a tinge of panic in his voice.

"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber said with a smirk, before pulling the lever, allowing a dragon to burst out into the arena.

It was quite large for a dragon, at least compared to Toothless, and had much smaller wings than him. It was a brown color, almost like sandstone, and it was covered with bumps all over its body. It had a bulbous sort of a tail, looking like the head of a mace was attached to the Gronckle's ass. It thundered across the arena, smashing into the wall like an angry bull that had missed the matador. It quickly recovered, its eyes scanning the arena, looking for us.

"Today is all about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. So, what's the first thing you're gonna need?" Gobber asked, leaning up against the wall of the arena, supervising our fight.

"A doctor?" Hiccup sarcastically asked, and a wide grin spread across my face at that one.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs suggested, and I facepalmed in the middle of the arena. I heard groans escape from the other teens, hinting that they shared my feelings.

"A shield," Astrid said matter-of-factly, and Gobber affirmed her. "Right, shields, go!" Everyone scattered to the shields laying around the arena. I picked up one, hoisting it on my shoulder with a bit of difficulty. I then pulled my gun out of the holster and held it. I smirked as I watched the dragon. I was ready for this.

"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield," Gobber said, while lifting Hiccup's shield onto his arm for him. I sighed. Hiccup was even weaker than I was. I didn't think that was even possible, but Hiccup proved me wrong. From the corner of my eye as I began to jog around the arena, I saw the twins fighting over a shield, in the middle of a _pile of shields_. 'Really guys, you can't just grab different shields?' I thought. I laughed out loud as the Gronckle spotted them, and, taking the opportunity, blasted the shield from both their hands. "Ruff, Tuff, you're out!" Gobber called, which he was responded to by a confused and dazed "What?"

I saw Astrid doing the same thing I was, moving slowly around the edges of the arena. 'Well, great minds think alike,' I chuckled in my mind.

Gobber decided to help us out. "Those shields are good for another thing: noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Everyone began to beat their weapons on their shields, and I beat mine on the wall, seeing as how I didn't have an actual weapon. I saw that the Gronckle began to fly around in random directions, and its head shook, like it was trying to clear its head.

Gobber decided to quiz us on our dragon knowledge. "All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?" I had never heard of a shot limit before, but I decided to go with it.

Snotlout said, "Five?" but he phrased it like a question, making it obvious that he didn't know. Fishlegs knew, however. "No, six!" he triumphantly replied, but making one fatal mistake: he stopped moving or paying attention as Gobber nodded. "Right, six. That'll leave two of you remaining when this is over. Let's see who it'll be."

"I really don't think my parents…" Fishlegs started, but was cut off as a Gronckle fireball came and blew his shield out of his hands. "Fishlegs, out!" Gobber called as Fishlegs ran, screaming like a little girl.

Gobber then spotted Hiccup, hiding behind a wooden barricade towards the side of one wall. "Hiccup, get in there!" Gobber chastised him. Hiccup made a move to get out of cover, but the Gronckle spotted him and sent a sludge bomb of what looked to be lava at him. It hit the wall behind him, but the point was clear. Hiccup quickly retreated back into his fortress. I saw Snotlout come up behind Astrid meanwhile, and since I was near them, I could hear what Snotlout said.

"So anyways, I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out," he said, trying - and failing - to flirt with her. The Gronckle saw the two of them and fired. Since Astrid was paying attention, she rolled out of the way. Since Snotlout wasn't, his shield got hit, he got blasted onto his ass, and Gobber said, "Snotlout, you're done!"

Only four remained. Me, Astrid, Hiccup, and Ripper were scattered around. Astrid's roll had brought her next to Hiccup, while Ripper and I were by ourselves. Hiccup and Astrid stood up, and the Gronckle focused on them, loosing a shot. I saw Hiccup talking, before Astrid replied something. She quickly ran, seeing the danger. Hiccup did not. His shield went sailing off his arm, flying across the floor. He quickly gave chase to it, but it rolled away from him. The Gronckle gave chase as well, but to Hiccup, following him across the arena. "One shot left!" Gobber called out. The Gronckle suddenly lunged at Hiccup, who was in a bad position. The Gronckle slammed into him, driving him into the wall. It opened its mouth, obviously about to blast Hiccup into oblivion. "Hiccup!" Gobber yelled, panicked. I suddenly knew what I had to do. I took the shield off of my arm and hurled it at the Gronckle, like a discus. It hit the Gronckle in the side of the face, canceling its shot. Angered, it got up off of the floor and found its assailant, me. It lowered its head and snorted, like a bull about to charge. I simply waited. The Gronckle charged, headbutting me, and the two of us hurtled into the wall. I was seeing spots, and my breath was gone, but I still smirked as the Gronckle opened up its mouth once more, yellow forming down its throat. All of a sudden, the Gronckle's eyes changed. They went from kill mode to a sleepy mood, its eyelids drooping down. As they finally closed, the Gronckle thudded to the ground, where it let out a snore. It was out cold.

I had brought my gun up and shot at the Gronckle's exposed underbelly, KOing him with a tranq dart.

I stood up slowly, staring at the Gronckle's sleeping form as I brushed the dirt off of my pants. I looked up to everyone. All of them, even Gobber, had their mouths wide open. They just stared in disbelief as I holstered my gun. I then leaned down to pick up the tranq dart I had fired. They were very valuable, as I couldn't make any more of them, having no glass or fine tools to do so. I examined it before closing my fist around it. I had taken down my first dragon. Everyone else in the arena had come to their senses, as they slowly walked over to me (with the exception of Snotlout, of course,) and congratulated me on taking down the Gronckle. But, as Fishlegs bumped up against my leg, I felt a prick. My eyes widened. Fishlegs had just inadvertently stabbed me with the tranq dart. My vision quickly grew blurry as I stumbled around, and all the rest of the teens took a few steps back, unsure of what was happening.

I managed to mumble, "Take me back to my house," before I fell to my knees, and then to my side, before blacking out once again.

**AN: So yeah, that's the end of this chapter! Hope you guys…**

**OBJECTION!**

**Me: Wait, is that…**

**Phoenix: Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney! We can't end this chapter just yet, Your Honor! We could be missing crucial evidence! What happened AFTER, huh?**

**Me: Um - oh, that's easy! Gobber took him home. **

**HOLD IT!**

**Me: 'Shit.'**

**Phoenix: You just said that Gobber took him home, correct?**

**Me: Uh - um - yes.**

**OBJECTION!**

**Phoenix: Then you're a complete liar. **

**Me: What? How?!**

**Phoenix: Not once have you stated that Gobber knows where Brandon's house is, or if he's ever even been there!**

**Me: (visibly pales) **

**Phoenix: Your Honor, I demand a further explanation by the author!**

**Judge: Hmm, yes, it seems like that would be the best thing to do. Alright! Author, please continue your chapter.**

**Me: (snorts in frustration) Fine.**

_Hiccup's POV_

I watched in utter confusion as Brandon stumbled around, his eyelids drooping. He muttered, "Take me back to my house," as he staggered to his knees, and then fell to his side, falling unconscious. My brain's gears began turning as I wondered what had happened to Brandon. 'He put that thing that made the Gronckle fall asleep in his pocket, and then Fishlegs... oh no.' Hiccup finally pieced the mystery together in his mind, before saying it out loud. "Fishlegs, you made that dart-thingy hit Brandon when you bumped his leg. It must have knocked him out cold." Everyone turned and glared at Fishlegs, who shrank into his shoes.

"Sorry, guys." Fishlegs said meekly.

"Well, we gotta get him home. He can't stay out here," Hiccup said. "Anyone gonna help me get him home?"

"No, he doesn't deserve to be lifted by _my _giant muscles," Snotlout said as he began flexing his biceps, kissing them as he flexed them. From the corner of my eye, I saw Astrid lurch forwards a bit, like she threw up in her mouth. I couldn't blame her.

"I will," Fishlegs said, "I mean, after all, I did cause this," he added apologetically. I nodded, giving my approval, and Fishlegs walked over and slowly hefted Brandon's body over his shoulder. Gobber opened the gate for the two of us as we began to march back to Brandon's home. Fishlegs grunted as he shifted Brandon's body higher onto his shoulder, and I felt a twinge of sadness for Fishlegs. Sure, 'Legs was more liked than me, but he hadn't even made friends with Brandon yet.

"Hey Fish, why haven't you talked to Brandon yet? You'd take a liking to him awful quick," Hiccup said.

"I dunno man, you know me. Impossible to socialize with," he joked, and I grinned.

"I got an idea. Why don't you wait for him to wake up, and strike up a conversation with him. He's certainly… interesting… to converse with," I proposed.

"You know what, sure." Fishlegs decided as we reached the door. I opened it and then walked in, followed by a stooping Fishlegs. We trudged up the rotting stairs, creaking escaping them at all of the weight put on them. We found Brandon's bed, and Fishlegs laid him down on it, before going to get a chair. I stood around, looking at the dilapidated state the house was in, before letting out a sigh. "This place needs an extreme makeover," I cracked a joke. "See you later, Fish."

"See you later, Hiccup," I heard the reply as I trudged out the door, closing it behind me.

**AN: Frickin' Phoenix, making me expand my chapters! Anyways, POV changes will begin with this chapter. Hope you enjoyed the action (it's my strong suit in writing) and goodbye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hello again! Back with yet another chapter for you guys!**

**Song: You Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story (cheesy, right?)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything named HTTYD, sir.**

_Brandon's POV_

I woke up to darkness, my eyes not yet opened. As I began to wake up, my eyes finally decided to open. As they did, I saw that I was lying on my bed, in my house. I saw a blurry face above mine, but I couldn't figure out who it was immediately. Suddenly, my drugged mind decided that now was a perfect time to say the stupidest and most embarrassing thing it had ever said. "M-Mom? I-Is that... you?" I mumbled. In response, I heard a reply, muffled by my drug-addled brain. My eyes slowly began to focus back in, and I made out the face better. I jumped back in my bed and hit the headboard when I realized who it was.

"FISHLEGS! JESUS!" I yelled, probably loud enough to wake up all of Berk. However, Fishlegs simply leaned back in his creaky chair at my bedside. "Whew, you're awake. Thank Thor."

"Why- Why are you-...!" I started, pale.

"In your room?" Fishlegs finished, and I gave a barely imperceptible nod in return, still shocked. "Well, I brought you back here after you passed out,"

"No thanks to you," I muttered sarcastically.

Fishlegs shot me a look as he finished his sentence. "And I wanted to make sure you were okay, so I stayed here."

"Well, I'm touched by your concern, but I'm fine. No reason to be here."

"That's just it. Hiccup... he wants me to talk to you," Fishlegs explained, not looking very happy with Hiccup's choice. To be honest, I sided with Fishlegs' opinion here. Fishlegs, however, looked like he wouldn't take no for an answer, so I simply sighed, saying, "Alright. What do you want to know?"

"What are you doing here? I mean, why are you staying with complete strangers?" Fishlegs asked.

"Cause, so far all you guys have shown me is friendliness and compassion. That's better than my old place." 'Not to mention I'm from a whole other dimension.' I thought sarcastically.

"Ok, but… I've noticed something… different from all of us. Instead of saying Gods, you say God. Your clothes aren't made of wool, like _everyone _else's are. You made a completely new invention in one day. See what I'm getting at here?" Fishlegs stated. I shrank in my bed, feeling like a prisoner being interrogated.

"Ah - uh - well, I… ugh. Why does this matter?" I squirmed in my bed, trying to avoid the question.

"Because, I want to know what you're hiding." Fishlegs said, stepping closer and adding a low rumble to the last few words. "Oh well, you don't have to tell me. I already know what it is." I nearly had a panic attack right there, but I had to at least try and keep my cool.

"You're from Germania, aren't you?!" Fishlegs accused. "Uh, yeah! You got me! Darn!" I rushed, grinning and thankful that Fishlegs had the wrong idea.

"Hah, I got you!" Fishlegs stated triumphantly. "Yeah, well, good job with that seeyoulaterBYE!" I sprang out of bed and sprinted out of the house, trying to put as much distance between the two of us as possible. I ran into the forest, headed to the cove. I had something to do.

When I reached the serenity of the cove, I was surprised to see the Timberjack there, sleeping on the ground peacefully. I quickly scrambled down the side of the cove, landing about 15 feet from the Timberjack. I was within range now. One wrong move, and I become human sushi. I quickly closed the gap between us. The Timberjack suddenly snorted smoke out of its nose, standing up slowly. I gulped, but straightened up and puffed out my chest. Our two pairs of eyes met once again, but this time it was different. The silent tension was gone, all of the fear and apprehension had disappeared. He snorted once again, shaking his head from side to side. He looked towards the pond, and my eyes followed his. There was a cod sitting on the bank, untouched by either Toothless or the Timberjack.

I slowly shuffled over to it, picking it up and trying my best to ignore the slimy feel and smell. I then walked back to the Timberjack, holding the cod with one hand. I stopped and faced the Timberjack. I took a deep inhale through my nose, and held out the cod, shutting my eyes. I expected black to be the last thing I ever saw. It wasn't. I reopened my eyes to see the cod in my hand gone, and I looked up to see the Timberjack licking its chops, before it started lurching around. As I stared, a sudden mass of slobber came flying at me, hitting me right in the face with a slap.

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically, before I remembered something. Hiccup had said that this is what Toothless had done with him. I groaned, knowing what I had to do next. The Timberjack seemed to let out a dragon's version of a chuckle. I slowly picked up the half-eaten cod, and slowly brought it up to my mouth. I held my breath and took a bite as the Timberjack looked on. I gulped it down, shuddering at the slimy feeling as the fish slid down my throat.

The Timberjack stepped back a few steps and then slowly raised his wings. He brought forth yet another cry mimicking a cannon being fired, and in that moment I was reminded of another fictional animal that often struck that exact pose. I knew that he would carry the name of it the moment I thought of it.

"Phoenix."

**AN: My first chapter under 1,000 words, clocking in at 973. For one of the biggest encounters between characters in the story. If this doesn't prove that I can't write emotional stuff, I don't know what does. Anyways, bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hello again! New update! By the way, thank you Guyman for the review! Stuff like that keeps me going!**

**Song: Didn't See That In The Cards from Sherlock Holmes 2**

**Disclaimer: I don't own either movie.**

I was worried. No, that was an understatement. I was terrified. Brandon or Lightning hadn't been seen for three days now. Most of the police had simply given up. And that was the worst part.

I couldn't understand why a fellow human was being given up for dead so easily. Another life depended on their perseverance, and nobody wanted to persevere. Nobody except me. Jack Richardson.

I was fighting back tears. I knew that I had been just like a father to the wise-cracking boy whose eyes were blue. His real father could care less about him. His _real _father only cared because now he had to go out to get his beer, instead of sitting on his ass and having Brandon do it like usual. And now, his _true _father, his only real father, had to go and look for him.

I was sick of the police. I had given them everything they needed: a map of his route, likely emergency landing spots along said route, hell, even the color of the plane, Lightning. And they had taken all of my help and just shoved it up their asses. They resorted to just looking along the roads and the vicinity around them. And as I expected, they didn't find anything. So, I had decided to take charge.

As I strolled down the airfield, I tried to suppress my boiling anger at the overall carelessness of everyone involved, and the ignorance of what was happening. I finally made it to my new plane. I had got it, expecting a grin from Brandon when he saw it, as I knew that Brandon loved history. I had managed to get my hands on an authentic World War I biplane, with working - and quite weirdly, already loaded - machine guns and everything. I named it Thunder, as a homage to Lightning. Now, I grabbed the last thing that I would need for this journey. My Colt Peacekeeper, loaded and ready to face whatever I could possibly find, if I encountered the same fate as Brandon. It had been passed down in my family for generations, all the way from the Civil War, down to me. I started up Thunder, and jumped in. I was so caught up in my emotions that I didn't wait for Control to give me the green light, cutting off a bush plane as I _thundered_ down the runway. I quickly got aligned with Brandon's path as I flew over the suburbs of Little Rock.

I didn't have time to give the beautiful scenery more than a passing glance as I flew right over the mountains. As I flew, however, I noticed something peculiar in the air along my path. Lots of little disturbances in the air hung around a distance on front of Thunder, shaped like little waves. All of a sudden, a rip in the sky opened, right in front of me. I was too preoccupied by the simple "how and why" that I completely forgot to even pull up. I flew through the rift and was immediately in a new environment. I twisted in my seat, trying to see the portal again, only to be greeted by nothing out of the ordinary. I faced forwards again, and finally looked at my new surroundings.

A great body of water surrounded me, dotted with spires of rock that towered out of the sea like spikes. 'Maybe this is what happened to Brandon. Either way, can't go back now,' I thought glumly. I simply kept my course, looking for a landing point. I passed over many islands, but most were too small or too mountainous to provide a proper runway. Suddenly, a massive volcano appeared over the horizon. 'Surely a volcano that big has an island big enough to land on,' I reasoned. Sure enough, I could see that the beach was definitely big enough to land on. 'Good,' I thought. All of a sudden, I encountered a dense fog. I tried to just bear with it. Then I heard something. A roar. Suddenly, a big red _thing _leveled off next to me. More shapes appeared all around me, materializing around me, forcing me into a flying circle. A shape in front of me seemed to take the lead, and everything else, me included, followed it. Small columns of rock suddenly began to appear, and everything began to take evasive maneuvers. I simply followed their lead through the spires. A hole appeared, and the shapes around me, which I still couldn't discern, dove into the hole. I had no choice but to set Thunder at a dive and follow. As I did, it got extremely hot quickly, and there was a faint glow down the tunnel that was quickly becoming brighter. 'Am I… _inside _that volcano? I hope not,' I wondered. He got his answer soon enough, as the tunnel opened up to a giant abyssal cavern. Sure enough, the red glow from deep down in the abyss proved that this was a volcano. It also illuminated the shapes that had flown with me for the past few minutes.

All around me flew creatures that I immediately knew to be dragons, simply because of their bodies. Dragons of all colors, shapes, sizes, and _fangs and claws_ littered the cavern, and most clung to the side of the main shaft up. I knew one thing: dragons would kill me. So, I decided for the method of preemptive strike.

Pulling my Peacekeeper from the holster, I simply pointed it at the nearest dragon, smirking as I did so. Plenty of pilots during World War I would take out their handguns and have a pistol duel across the sky. 'This is kind of the same,' I grinned in my head, 'except I'm dueling a dragon,' I finished drily.

_The Red Death's POV_

As my subjects fed me once again, as usual, I noticed a different smell this time. 'Must be some new food,' I reasoned. Its smell had distinct traces of human, but it was mixed with noxious fumes that I had never smelled before. Then, suddenly, across the Link, I felt pain, sudden and sharp. Now, this wasn't unusual. During the raids that I commissioned, I felt plenty of pain, as my subjects were captured and killed. What was unusual was when this was happening, and the proximity. Based off the Link, I could tell that my wounded subject had just been in the volcano. And, I had ordered no raids. Daytime ones never go well for my subjects. I realized that something else had just entered into my volcano, and had injured one of my faithful subjects. I would not stand for that. So, I sent a message across the Link. 'Kill whatever has injured my subject. You all can probably see it. If you can't, follow the smell of human. Go, my subjects. Carry out this task for me.' 'Yes, Majesty,' came the thundering reply. I smirked slightly. Whatever was in here was about to get a rude awakening.

_Jack's POV_

A sudden quiet wave of sound washed over me, like the soft beating of soldiers' feet on a march far away. Whatever it was, it was quite foreboding, and I didn't like it one bit. The sound got gradually louder, like the march was approaching me. It sounded like it was behind me. I twisted in my seat to look behind me, and was honestly not surprised by what I saw. Dragons had lined up behind me, quickly gaining on Thunder. The lead one was a giant orange typical-looking dragon, whose face twisted and contorted slightly, forming into a small… it looked like… a smirk.

"Shit," I replied, as the first fireballs flew at me.

Evasive maneuvers were immediately required as about 15 shots flew all around me and Thunder. I simply opened up the throttle and then flew almost straight up, flying out of the top of the caldera and out into free air. The dragons didn't stop though, so I leveled off, racing the dragons across the vast ocean below me. They didn't hesitate to give chase, and we started a deadly dance. They would shoot, and I would dodge. I would run, and they would follow. Like a western movie we flew across the landscape, locked in a struggle. Whoever made the first mistake would pay dearly for it. Jack once again began scanning for an emergency grounding spot to land on. After all, there was quite the possibility that he would need it.

Finally, Jack spotted the promised land. A big island was coming into view over the horizon. On it, there lay a town of sorts. 'Well, looks like I've found my landing point. Oh lucky me,' Jack thought.

_Brandon's POV_

After coming back to Berk after my encounter with Phoenix, I was planning on going back to the forge, to mess with the tools and see if I could create bullet moulds, for making more bullets. However, a mass of specks on the horizon caught my attention as I walked across the village, steadily expanding until it was a great blob, heading right towards us. 'What could that possibly be?' I wondered, as I simply stood there, waiting for more acute details to appear so I could assess the situation. Eventually, I could tell that a horde of dragons were pursuing a single object across the early evening sky. For a brief moment, I had hopes, for anything of my own time. But, I simply dismissed them as nothing more than whimsical hopes and dreams of the impossible. However, as the figure became more defined, I noticed two distinct pairs of wings. Then, a tail. Finally, I heard the one sound that I had been hoping against hope to hear. The faint whirring of a plane engine sailing across the sky.

"Jack! JACK! IT'S JACK!" I yelled to nobody in particular, before turning on my heel and sprinting up the hill towards the great doors of the Great Hall. Finally reaching them, I threw open the doors, running past the tables and the few Vikings lounging around. Finding Hiccup, I stood in front of him, panting heavily and trying to catch my breath.

"HiccupHiccupHiccup! Get the catapults armed and turned to the south, as fast as you can! It's Jack, he's here!"

"O-kay, but why the catapults?" Hiccup asked.

"Um… ha, well… he's being chased by a horde of dragons towards us."

"Why are you people so troublesome?" Hiccup flashed his signature lopsided grin at me, and ran to get Stoick. I grabbed a torch from one of the braziers and ran back out, dashing to the southern shore like a madman. As I raced there, all I could think about was "Jack got here?" I realized that he had to have flown along my route and went through the same portal. As I made it to the shore, I began to wave the torch wildly, back and forth, trying to flag Jack down. 'If only I had my signal flags,' I mused. Jack's plane seemed to bank towards a more direct approach at us. I smiled. My work here was done.

_Hiccup's POV_

"Dad! I need you and the rest of the village on the southern slopes, pronto!" I called into the house, before heading back out into the open air, hauling his ass all the way down to the catapult battery on the southern shores. As he arrived, he made sure everything was in working order, and that plenty of ammo was ready. Thankfully, Stoick believed in his boy, as he brought about half of the village down towards the catapult battery. Nodding as he saw the swarm of dragons, he set his men to work loading and readying the catapults to fire. Once they were loaded and aimed, I saw Dad give a small smirk, as he imagined the dragons that would die painful deaths, either being hit or possibly drowning.

"Fire."

**AN: Ha! You thought I was just gonna let a character like Jack go! Nope! Well, see you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry I couldn't post this earlier today, but I had a weekend camping trip, and I was swept up in cleaning after I got back. To Mystic nightfury, the reason Brandon hasn't seen the HTTYD movie is because I made this in an AU where HTTYD doesn't exist, so that our heroes are clueless about where they are and what will happen :D Anyways, enjoy!**

**Song: The James Bond theme**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING whatsoever, 'cept my laptop. I'm a poor man D:**

_Jack's POV_

As soon as I saw the torch and the catapults, I knew what I had to do. I banked for the island more directly, and got to as low of altitude as I possibly could. Then, the catapults launched their rocks. Evasive maneuvers cleared me and Thunder of most of the rocks, with the other ones going wide. Behind me, the dragons were not so lucky. Four of the rocks barrelled right through the middle of their formation, killing lots and disrupting the pursuit. The lead dragons halted and snarled loudly, obviously threats aimed at everyone involved. They did, however, suddenly about-face and return to the massive volcano they came from. I breathed a sigh of relief. However, one problem had been replaced by another, as I had to figure out just how to land on this hilly island. The sandy beach seemed to be the best spot, so I descended, catching some of the inhabitants make their way down the cliff towards the beach as well. The landing itself went pretty good, as the sand was filled with volcanic materials that made this sand firmer than normal. I cut the engine and jumped out, my tennis shoes thudding quietly on the sand as I stared at the many people approaching me. My Colt Peacekeeper in my hand, I noticed a familiar figure, the one I had seen waving the torch, tripping over rocks as he quickly made his way towards me. I already knew who it was, as I cried for joy in my mind.

"Looks like I found you. Not surprising." I smirked.

"Shut up, I saved you." Brandon said, grinning ear to ear, as he pulled me into a brief, yet strong hug.

"Only from the dragons. Not from you," I shot back with a grin also.

The occupants of the village had just arrived as well, and a lanky boy with a mop of brown hair and warm green eyes ran up to Brandon and I. I was about to shake hands, before he just ran past me and made a beeline for Thunder, staring at it as if I had brought something holy to this land, in the form of Thunder.

"Uh, Hiccup? Rude much?" Brandon teased the boy, who I now knew as Hiccup, who suddenly snapped out of his reverie and cleared his throat, before turning back to me.

"Hello. I'm Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, the chief. You must be… Jack, right?"

"Yep. Pleasure to meet you," I said as the two of us shared a firm handshake.

Just then, a great man pushed his way to the front of the crowd, eyeing me with a look, before he also held out his hand. "Let me guess, Stoick the Vast, chief of…"

Stoick cut in, finishing my sentence. "Berk. You're on Berk." We shook hands, and I almost winced in pain at how crushing his grip was. Formalities over, Brandon asked me, "So, that's the new plane, huh?"

I laughed at his sudden change of attention. "Yep, an authentic World War I one too, working guns and the works. I called it Thunder, to complete the theme."

"Now all we need is a third one called Storm, and we'll be set." Brandon noticed.

"Anyways, we're in a land of catapults and fur wearing monsters of men. So, Vikings or Celts?"

"Vikings." Brandon simply answered my question. However, two other men burst their way to the front of the crowd, standing beside Stoick. The younger one had quite the mustache and stood tall, but not overly buff like Stoick was. The second one was an old man, if the hunched back and white hair were any clues. He had a sheep by his side, standing impassively as the two men looked at us live we were freaks. The old one spoke up first.

"What sorcery is this?!" He yelled, gesticulating wildly towards Thunder with the gnarled staff he held.

"It's not sorcery, it's a machine." Hiccup spoke up from behind us.

"Keep quiet, boy! These two are clearly evil sorcerers, possessing dark magicks. They should be banished immediately!" The other one said, talking to Stoick. Stoick seemed almost exasperated with the two of them.

"Spitelout, why do you believe that? Just because something is new, doesn't mean it's sorcery." Stoick explained, almost as if he were talking to a little child. Spitelout looked angry, but he stayed quiet. Stoick then turned towards the older one. "Same goes to you, Mildew." Mildew also looked frustrated, but he also kept quiet. I sent a snicker their way, which riled them up even more. Spitelout couldn't hold it in any longer, as he fumed and then burst out. "Damned devil! You may have fooled Stoick, but not me! Dark magicks, be banished forthwith from this place!" The metallic ring of a sword sliding out of its scabbard rang through the air as Spitelout lunged towards me, the instinct to kill glowing in his eyes like a fire that had been rekindled.

With the ease of practice, I cocked the trigger and quickly brought it up to Spitelout. He hesitated, mid-swing, as the barrel of my Peacekeeper pushed against his forehead. Suddenly, he swung the inside of his right elbow sideways, knocking the gun out of my grasp. Intoxicated by my overconfidence, I did nothing more than stand in shock as Spitelout went in for the killing blow. A sharp report pierced the air, breaking the silence as Spitelout began to stumble forward, landing into my arms, fully unconscious. I quickly dropped Spitelout unceremoniously to the ground, as I looked at Brandon. He was holding his gun in a manner scarily similar to Sean Connery from the first James Bond movies, a small wisp of smoke trailing from the barrel. I gave him a quick nod of appreciation as I turned back to the crowd, before addressing Stoick once more.

"Someone get him back to his house. He'll be unconscious for a bit. Stoick, mind if we talk somewhere private?" I asked. Stoick gave me a simple nod before parting the crowd, with me trailing close behind. We walked all the way up the cliff and to a house in silence, that I could only guess was his house, as he opened the door for the two of us to enter through. Stoick sat down in a chair, as I pulled up another one from a nearby table, before I sat down as well. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Stoick inquired.

"I need to talk about where Brandon and I are from. Do you know?" I asked.

"I haven't got the foggiest idea," Stoick stated.

"Huh. Well, Brandon and I from the future," I laid it out plainly, ignoring the jaw drop of Stoick, "and, well, I was wondering if the two of us could stay on Berk, even if that is true?"

Stoick took a minute to gather himself before giving a reply. "Uh, yeah. I mean, why would I discriminate against you just because of that?"

I shook my head slightly. "Just making sure," I said.

"Ok, well, let's try not to tell anyone else about this, and let them think you're just from a different land." Stoick reasoned. "We don't want panic rampant through the streets."

"I agree."

"Well, Jack, it was nice meeting you." Stoick said as he stood back up, with me quickly following. I showed myself out of the house and ran through the now dispersing crowd, back to the beach, finding Brandon and Hiccup there. Hiccup seemed to be examining Thunder, occasionally asking questions, which Brandon would quickly answer. I chuckled at his face. He seemed to be ecstatic that someone was giving him a chance to flaunt his knowledge for his friend.

As I finally caught up to them, I asked a simple question. "Give me the lowdown on these dragons here." Hiccup and Brandon both stopped and looked at each other, seeming to silently pass a message between each other. "Okay." Hiccup answered, and the three of us laid down on the black sand as Hiccup began to give me the works on dragons.

After an hour, I learned that there were quite a few types of dragons, all with their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. However, I was referred to the "Book of Dragons" for more information. However, that had to wait, as Hiccup and Brandon quickly grabbed my arms and dragged me back up the cliff and across town.

"Uh, guys? Where are we going? What's happening?" I asked, slightly panicked at this new drive.

"Just trust us," was the only response to my queries, and I fell silent as they dragged me through the great firs and spruces, realizing that I would get no more information for now. We stopped at a small cliff face, marking a small depression in the ground. The two boys stopped, turning back to me, serious looks on their faces.

"What you see next does not leave this clearing, got it?" Brandon demanded.

"Man, look who's in charge now!" I replied, in a more lighthearted tone than Brandon.

"Got it!?" Brandon's voice grew louder and more sharp.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." I tried to sound indifferent, but I was honestly curious as to what Brandon made me promise about. Then, the three of us slid down the steep path into the bottom of the depression, and I saw what the two of them were talking about. My jaw went down so far that I swore it touched the ground.

In front of us stood two dragons. One was a jet-black figure, sleek and stealthy looking. The other one was the spitting image of what I expected a dragon to be. It was far bigger than the black one, and had a red color to it that made it look like it had bathed in blood. Seeing us, the black one simply stared indifferently, while the red one stretched out to its full height, extending its magnificent wings before letting out a roar that reminded me of a howitzer being fired next to me.

"Well, that's interesting, to say the least." That was all I got out before I had to sit down, my brain in panic mode after seeing two dragons up close. My brain's way of dealing with this threat was simple. "Play dead." I went to give the ground a great big hug, closing my eyes in the process.

**AN: Jack meets the dragons and we get to meet Spitelout and Mildew! (groan) Follow, favorite, and review! Peace!**


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